Long ago, we became
dissatisfied with the norm of modern society, the 9 to 5 indentured
servants. Instead, we have explored the world. (On a strict budget
of course, as we are incapable of holding regular jobs.) Always collecting
useful stuff for the next journey, we found that other travelers wanted
to know where we bought everything. Problem was, our supplies were
not available in one place. Until now, of course. All items in our
catalog have been personally field tested, both for quality and usefulness.
Even if you're only traveling for a couple of weeks, our products
are good items to carry. Please explore our catalog and the world.

Walkabout Travel Gear does not release nor sell the names, addresses, email addresses, or any information whatsoever of its customers.

It all began on the tiny island country of Malta, during a six month Walkabout. Gia and I had once again quit our jobs. We knew we were getting a bit old for such behavior but did it anyway. We were staying at the Hibernia House hostel in Sliema when inspiration struck:

"Discussed possibility of starting a business; appears neither Gia or I am capable of working for others. No mail-order company has the resources for serious travelers ... An idea."
-- Brad's Journal, March 6, 1995.

We cut our Walkabout short, went home to Salt Lake City, Utah, and started up Walkabout Travel Gear with the $5,000 we had left.
Our print catalog came before a website. In fact, we were only vaguely aware of what the internet was. Very few websites existed in 1995, much less commercial ones. Click on the link for a PDF of our very first print catalog. It is pretty entertaining.

Late in 1995, a computer literate friend suggested we put up a website. After a fast learning curve, we put the website up in the Fall of 1995. For our first website, we did not even own the domain Walkabout Travel Gear yet. Our original domain was: http://www.xmission.com/~walkgear/walk.htm

Easy to remember, right? Soon we secured the domain WalkaboutTravelGear.com and business picked up right away. We never changed the basic feel of the website, something easily provable if you click on this version from 1996. (No older versions exist.)

During 1996, Walkabout Travel Gear grew quickly and one day we realized we could run the business almost anywhere in the USA that had internet access and one day delivery for FedEX Express shipments. (Back then one day did not always mean one-day in rural areas.) We had always enjoyed the red-rock spendor of Moab, Utah. At the time, Moab was just recovering from deep depression and houses were inexpensive. Tourism, the primary industry of Moab today, was just beginning to emerge.

So we bought a house and Moab became the home of Walkabout Travel Gear for the next decade. The business quickly took over the entire basement.

Our intentions were to be self-employed so we could be free, but the exact opposite happened. We were successful, but not enough to hire employees. So our work week went from 9 to 5 to essentially 24/7. It was important to attend trade shows and internet conferences but how to do so when we had a business to run, phones to answer, and inventory to ship? Then one day the answer came: a motor home.

In 1999 we purchased an older but very large motor home and jammed it to the gills with inventory, shipping supplies, and other business necessities. There was no wi-fi internet in those days, so we needed to stay where we had access to a phone jack. We also had one of the first celluar internet set-ups, on an analog cell phone. The data rate was 4K! Still, to be able to get online from an RV was amazing even if at slow, slow speeds. The first journey was to Las Vegas for the Comdex computer/internet convention.

After eleven years, the Walkabout Travel Gear distribution center was opened in California and all orders now ship from there. We moved from the desert to the ocean, trading Moab, Utah for the Oregon Coast. Our Walkabout continues. See you on the Road!